I saw a very interesting article, on the Brown Pelican Society website that spoke volumes to me as I am sure to others. The following is just a short excerpt from the Article written by Allen Scott, called: “Keep your focus on God, not on things”.

“Sometimes I have often felt like I need to let go of ‘the world.’ There are way too many distractions. So, I have been abandoning lots of things that used to be very important to me and adopting a whole new way of thinking and a whole new way of being. Over the past several years I have slowly been moving towards what is called a ‘minimalist.’ It’s funny — I had no intentions to become minimal. My life seemed to be going OK as a ‘maximalist.’ I had loads of stuff and was quite happy with it, or so I thought. I discovered the concept of minimalism accidentally, stumbling on a few websites that discuss the topic. These sites reveal how people are always trying to find happiness through distractions, or oftentimes, in their next purchase. Reading more, I also learned how people often refuse to let go of things because they are convinced they may need these ‘things’ in the future. Hmm, this was sounding a lot like me. I decided to look more into this minimalism thing. And the more time I spent reading about the subject; the more and more I realized I had some serious distractions in my life. It was like a curtain was lifting. From there, I was full steam ahead, wanting to live more simply and to be happy with what I already had. I wanted to live in a house that wasn’t stuffed with possessions, which actually possessed me. The obvious: I had way too much junk, too many distractions.

And then I started to learn some things about myself that weren’t so obvious: I had put too much emotional value in the things that I own. Much of what I bought was based out of a need to compete or be like others . No one cares what I own or don’t own (gulp) And last, but not least, the clutter that had built up around me was depriving me of things like money, time and energy. But more importantly, this clutter (both physical and mental) was depriving me of something far more precious — inner peace and the chance at having a deeper relationship with God. Since starting to adopt a more minimalist lifestyle, I have also learned that being a minimalist involves more than just taking heaps of stuff to the city dump, selling it or giving it away to charities. It’s also about learning to let go of certain non-tangible items too — like friendships that are no longer healthy or positive. And letting go of the past, so you can build a proper future. But most importantly, I’ve learned that adopting a minimalist lifestyle is about removing distractions. These come in the form of thoughts, imaginations, feelings and desires which hold our attention much longer and more strongly than they should